Pronouns for "You"

These can be a little confusing, especially for those transitioning from other Romance languages to Brazilian Portuguese. Originally, você (Spanish usted) and the plural vocês were the formal "you," while tu and the plural vós were the informal, with all four having separate sets of verbs endings. Today in Brazil, vós is almost never used, and tu used only in certain areas such as the Northeast (nordeste) and Rio Grande do Sul. Where it is used, it is often followed by the same verb endings as você. Thus, virtually all of Brazil does not use the verb endings for tu and vós (i.e. no 2nd person verbs), making it much easier to learn just the remaining four sets. However, most Brazilians do use the informal reflexive pronoun te (based on tu and the same word as Spanish and French). Since this eliminates much of the grammar-based formality, to be formal replace you with o senhor (oh sen-YOUR) for a man, a senhora (ah sen-YOUR-ah) for a woman, and a senhorita (ah sen-your-REE-tah) for a young unmarried lady. This can also be done just before their name (equivalent to Mr., Mrs., and Miss respectively), or it can be spoken by itself initially (with or without a name) in order to get someone's attention.

In Portugal, vós is rarely used anymore except in some isolated regions of the country. Tu is used with its own verb set, making você sound somewhat more formal than in many parts of Brazil. However, to be extra formal use o senhor, a senhora, and a senhorita. Short-term tourists could easily get by without learning the tu verbs, and they are not used in this Phrasebook. As an obvious foreigner, it's very unlikely any child will think you're being sarcastic if you use você in speaking to them. Also, Brazilian television programs are popular in Portugal, and the use of Brazilian Portuguese should not raise an eyebrow. However, the reverse is not true, and many Brazilians have trouble understanding European Portuguese (Luso).

Other Pronouns

In Brazil, it's very common (though technically incorrect) to use ele/a as the object pronoun for "it." Eu encontrei ele. I found it. If the "it" is intangible, best to change to the Portuguese genderless word for "this." Amo muito tudo isso. I'm loving it.

eu

I

ele

he, it (m)

ela

she, it (f)

nós

we

eles

they, them (mixed gender ok)

elas

they, them (all females/feminine)

Verbs

This topic is much too complex for a phrasebook. See Learning more below. In general though, infinitive verbs (i.e. as found in the dictionary) end in _ar, _er, and _ir (like Spanish) plus there's one irregular infinitive pôr (to put). A lot of the most common verbs are irregular and must be memorized. Você, ele, ela, (and usually tu in Brazil -- see above) share the same verb set, as do (separately) vocês, eles, and elas.

Pronunciation guide

Portuguese has nasal vowels and reduced vowels. If you don't reduce the vowels you will still be understood but you will sound over-enunciating. If you don't nasalize the vowels, you can easily be misunderstood: mão means "hand", while mau means "bad." So, be extra careful not to ouch the ão sound. For starters, try something in between English no and now for não (which means English no). A good native pronunciation of this diphthong will take lots of listening and practice. The nasals are transcribed as "ng", but don't pronounce "ng" as a consonant.

Brazilian and Luso (European Portuguese) pronunciation differ, and within Brazil, there are regional differences as well. The pronunciation of Minas Gerais is especially difficult, for its tendency to merge syllables, reduce vowels, affricate consonants, etc. In the Northeast, the consonants tend to be harder and the vowels longer. The populous region surrounding Rio, São Paulo, and Curitiba generally follow the Rio pronunciation in this guide where indicated (though they do have their own distinctive accents). If there is no separate mention for Rio, then it is the same as the rest of Brazil.

Beware (especially if you know some Spanish) that words ending in i and u are stressed on the last syllable without any accent mark, as are those ending in a constant other than m or s (except im/ins and um/uns).

Vocali

a (á, â, ã)

e (é, ê)

i

o (ô, õ)

u

Consonanti

b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, x, z

y ed w soltanto in parole stranieri

b

like 'b' in "bed"

c

like 'c' in "cat"

ce ci

like in cell and civil.

ç

like 's' in soft or super. The mark below the letter "c" is called a cedilla in English or cedilha in Portuguese. It is used to force the soft C before vowels other than E or I.

d

like 'd' in "dog". In some regions of Brazil (e.g. Rio) it is affricate before i (like in dia sounding roughly like an English "j": "jeea").

f

like 'f' in "father"

g

like 'g' in "good"

ge gi

like 's' in "treasure". (Like French je.) Note: this is completely different from Spanish.

h

silent. See Common digraphs below and r and rr for the English "h" sound.

j

like 's' in "treasure". (Like French je.) Note: this is completely different from Spanish.

(k)

Found only in words of foreign origin, so pronounce accordingly. Mostly, like 'c' in "cat". (Not part of Portuguese alphabet.) See letters c and q for the English "k" sound.

l

like 'l' in "love". The final L is vocalised (like in "cold"). Brazilians will make it a "u" sound (like in "mal" sounding like the English "ow", as in "now".)

m...

like 'm' in "mother".

...m

Nasalizes the preceding vowel, and is dropped at the end of a word (Luso). Letter 'N' used in the phrasebook for Brazilian pronunciation.

n

like nice. Nasalizes the preceding vowel and is silent when followed by a consonant. (See Common digraphs below.)

p

like 'p' in "pig"

q

like "unique". Qu is usually followed by e or i as a way to get the k sound. Words with qua will sound just as 'qua' in the English word "quack".

r...

like 'h' in "help", only harder. See also RR in Common Digraphs below. It is often pronounced as the Spanish J, especially in Brazil.

...r

like 'r' in "morning" or the (usually dropped) 'r' in British pronunciation.

...r...

like the Spanish 'r' (and similar to English).

Examples (Brazilian pronunciation):

fresta (FRES-tah) a loophole hora (OH-rah) hour, time

s

like "hiss" at the beginning of words, "haze" between vowels, "sure" in Luso dialect and final position/before consonants in Rio de Janeiro, or as s elsewhere (like the regular plural ending sound in English).

t

like 't' in "top"

...te (if unstressed, i.e. no accent mark) Brazil only -- except some areas near Argentina and Uruguayti (regardless of position) Brazil only -- except some areas near Argentina and Uruguay
like 'chee' in cheese, or with _s like 'chees' Note this is completely different from Spanish

Found only in words of foreign origin, so pronounce accordingly. Mostly pronounced as 'v' (Volkswagen) or 'u' (Wilson). (Not part of Portuguese alphabet.)

x

like "box", "shoe", "zip" or even "yes". The correct pronunciation of the X is not easy to deduce. In Brazil, the sh sound is most often correct (but not always).

(y)

Found only in words of foreign origin, so pronounce accordingly. (Not part of Portuguese alphabet.) The digraph lh produces a sound similar to the English consonant "y". (see Common digraphs below)

z

like 'z' in "zebra," or like sh or s when final ("paz", "luz")

Dittonghi comuni

Note: Two vowels together not listed as diphthongs usually means a syllable split. Example: ia in Bahia. Any accent mark (not counting the tilde such as ão and õe) will split a diphthong into two regular vowels (see above).

am

same as ão, but unstressed andam they walk

ai

like bike (often equivalent to Spanish 'AY' but not always a diphthong) praia beach

Numbers

Note: Spanish speakers need to practice pronunciation of Portuguese numbers to be understood, even though they are quite similar in written form. Give particular attention to dropped middle syllables in numbers 7,9,10, and those ending in e for Luso and te for Brazil.

1

um(m)/uma(f) (oong / OO-mah)

2

dois(m)/duas(f) (doysh / DOO-ash)

3

três (treysh)

4

quatro (KWAT-roh)

5

cinco (SING-koo)

6

seis/meia (seysh/may-ah) Use meia in a numerical series (e.g. phone numbers, postal codes, etc.) to prevent confusion with "três". "Meia" is short for "meia-dúzia" (half-a-dozen).

7

sete (set (Port.) / setch (Brazil))

8

oito (OY-too)

9

nove (nov (Port.)/ NOH-vee (Brazil))

10

dez (dezh)

11

onze (ongz (Port.) / ONG-zay (Brazil) )

12

doze (doz (Port.)/ DOH-zay (Brazil) )

13

treze (trez (Port.) / TRE-zay (Brazil))

14

catorze (kah-TORZ (Port.)/ kah-TOH-zay (Brazil))

15

quinze (keengz (Port.)/ KEENG-zee (Brazil))

16

dezasseis (Port.) (deh-zah-SEYSH)

dezesseis (Brazil)(deh-zay-SEYSH)

17

dezassete (Port.)(deh-zah-SET )

dezessete (Brazil) (deh-zay-SET-chay )

18

dezoito (dezh-OY-too)

19

dezanove (Port.) (deh-zah-NOV )

dezenove (Brazil) (day-zay-NOH-vay)

20

vinte (veengt (Port.)/ VEEN-chee (Brazil))

21

vinte-um/uma (veengt (Port.)/ VEEN-chee (Brazil) oong/OO-mah)

22

vinte-dois/duas (veengt (Port.)/ VEEN-chee (Brazil) doysh/DOO-ash)

23

vinte-três (veengt (Port.)/ VEEN-chee (Brazil) trezh)

30

trinta (TREEN-tah)

40

quarenta (kwah-REN-tah)

50

cinquenta (Port.) (sing-KWEN-tah)

cinqüenta (Brazil) (sing-KWEN-tah)

60

sessenta (seh-SEN-tah)

70

setenta (seh-TEN-tah)

80

oitenta (oy-TEN-tah)

90

noventa (no-VEN-tah)

100

cem (seng)

200

duzentos/as (...)

300

trezentos/as (...)

500

quinhentos/as (keen-YENG-toosh)

1000

mil (meel)

2000

dois mil (doysh meel)

1,000,000

milhão (meel-YOWNG)

number _____ (train, bus, etc.)

número _____ (NU-may-ro)

half

metade (me-TAHD (Port.)/ me-TAHD-day (Brazil)/ me-TAHD-jay (Rio))

less

menos (MEH-noosh)

more

mais (mighsh)

Time

now

agora (ah-GOH-rah)

later

depois (deh-POYSH)

before

antes de (ANtesh deh)

morning

manhã (mah-NYAHNG)

afternoon

tarde (tahrd (Port.)/ TAHR-day (Brazil)/TAHR-jay (Rio))

evening

Use afternoon ("tarde") for early evening, and night ("noite") for late evening. Unlike English, "boa noite" is used as an initial greeting and not just to say goodbye.

night

noite (NOIT (Port.)/ NOI-chay (Brazil))

Clock time

Note: In a sentence add é just before one o'clock, noon and midnight, and são just before two through eleven o'clock. (English equivalent of "it is..."). Unlike Spanish, the definite article (Span. la; Port. a) is not used.